Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie

He's five foot two
And he's six foot four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of thirty-one
And he's only seventeen
And he's been a soldier for a thousand years

He’s a Catholic, a Hindu
An atheist, a Jain
A Buddhist, and a Baptist, and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill
And he knows he always will
Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you

And he’s fighting for Canada
He’s fighting for France
He’s fighting for the USA
And he’s fighting for the Russians
And he’s fighting for Japan
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way

And he’s fighting for democracy
He’s fighting for the reds
He says it’s for the peace of all
He’s the one who must decide
Who’s to live and who’s to die
And he never sees the writing on the wall

But without him, how would Hitler
Have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war
And without him all this killing can’t go on

He's the Universal Soldier
And he really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from you and me
And brothers can't you see
This is not the way we put the end to war

lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group